Grout is a construction material used to embed rebars in masonry walls, connect sections of pre-cast concrete, fill voids, and seal joints. For most individuals the latter represents their general exposure to grout as it is used to seal the joints between tiles in their homes such as within bathrooms, kitchens, and floors. Grout is generally a mixture of water, cement, and sand with often a colour tint added. Sometimes fine gravel is added if it is being used to fill the cores of concrete blocks. It is typically applied as a thick emulsion and hardens over time, much like its close relative mortar.
The main varieties include:                urethane tiling grout, which cures to a hard, self-sealing, semi-elastic finish;        cement tiling grout, which is low cost, easier to work, and may be buffed off;        epoxy tiling grout, which has good stain and chemical resistance but has short working time and cured epoxy is hard to remove;        flooring grout;        resin grout, which is typically water repelling;        non-shrink grout, which is a hydraulic cement grout expanding upon curing and particularly suited to load bearing members;        structural grout, which is typically in reinforced masonry to fill voids in masonry housing reinforcing steel; and        thixotropic grout, which is typically injected to fill voids or bond metal components into place.        
Tiling grout is often used to fill the spaces between tiles or mosaics, and to secure the tiles to the base they are being installed upon. There are several tools typically associated with applying grout such as:                grout float a trowel-like tool for smoothing the surface of a grout line, typically made of rubber or soft plastic; and        pointing trowel used for applying grout in flagstone, and other stone works.        
When grouting joints narrow than 1/16″ (approximately 1.5 mm), typically on walls and countertops in most residential settings then a non-sanded grout may be employed. For grouting joints wider than 1/16″ (approximately 1.5 mm), typically on floors, then generally a sanded grout is employed which gives extra strength to keep it from cracking. Typically, a grouter will work in small areas. Once, mixed (when considering a sanded cement grout for example) then a grout float, generally padded for tiles, is used to spread the grout over the tiles and force it into the joints, see first image 150A in FIG. 1A. For wall applications it is usually scooped up from the bucket with the short side of the float. Once the grout float is used to spread the grout across the whole surface of the area with the long side of the float then the grouter will typically use both hands on the float to push it down into the joints, see second image 150B in FIG. 1A. All the time they are on their hands and knees.
Once, the area is finished, typically 3′ wide by 2′ deep (approximately 1 m by 0.7 m) then the grouter will hold the long edge of the float almost perpendicular to the floor and scrape the excess grout off the surface of the tiles. At this point it is important that they are sweeping diagonally to the joints so that the float is always running along the surface of the tiles and not accidentally digging the grout out of the joints.
Once this spread-smush-and-scrape phase is complete then judgment must be used about how long to continue working before going back to clean off the surface of the tiles as it needs to have time to harden but not so long that the residue on the surface of the tiles gets too hard to clean off. Typically, this is done by individuals by hand using a water and a soft, thick sponge for cleaning off the grout, see third image 150C in FIG. 1A. Again, during this cleaning the individual is on their hands and knees.
Accordingly, today grouting even where it is for large areas such as commercial environments, offices, shopping malls, etc. is achieved using professionals who work through the entire process on their hands and knees. Generally, because of this larger areas being tiled tend to be tiled with larger tiles. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide building contractors, individuals, etc. with a machine to implement some or all of these steps thereby allowing a wider range of tiles and tile effects to be implemented when tiling large areas including employing smaller tiles, tiling mosaics, etc. without the costs of these visually effective and attractive designs being prohibitive. Such a machine would also beneficially reduce the amount of time the worker is working on their hands and knees.
Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.